Legion Athletics is one of the more popular performance nutritional supplements out there right now, as many fitness influencers promote them on social media. One of the most popular supplements that they offer is their whey protein powder, which is what I'll be reviewing in this article.
Being a macro-friendly recipe creator, I use many different protein powders for protein shakes, high-protein snacks, desserts, smoothies, and I even make some of the best ninja creami recipes (protein ice cream), which are perfect for a bedtime snack.
I openly talk about the protein powders I use, such as:
- 1st Phorm Level-1
- Clean Simple Eats
- Transparent Labs and a few others
Each one is good for certain types of recipes.
Needless to say, I wanted to try out Legion Whey Protein Powder and see what the hype was all about. This is my unbiased review, let's begin with The Hot Takes!
The Hot Takes of Legion Athletics Whey Protein
Try Legion Whey Protein Powder
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Legion Whey Isolate Protein Powder at a Glance
Legion Whey+ Whey Isolate Protein Powder is made from cow’s milk, sourced from small dairy farms in Ireland. These are hormone- and antibiotic-free cows that produce a high-quality product. By removing much of the fat and lactose that are present in the milk, a clean and beneficial product is produced. Whey+ can be used to increase your protein intake and your intake of essential amino acids, support your weight loss goals, help you build more lean muscle mass and so much more. Unfortunately, it might be a little hard on your stomach if you’re sensitive to dairy products, but a lot of people find that whey is easier to digest since a lot of the lactose has been removed.
Legion Whey Protein Powder currently comes in 15 different flavors. There are 22 grams of protein in each serving, with this product containing 90% protein by weight. It has minimal calories, carbohydrates and fat. Nothing artificial or unhealthy has been added. Legion claims they’re always working on their formulas to offer better and improved products. Legion seems to be great at disclosing what’s in their products and how they’re made. However, not a lot is mentioned on the brand’s website regarding what you can use this product for or the different benefits that the ingredients could potentially provide.
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What I Like
- Legion offers a money-back guarantee that doesn’t require you to send back any of the remaining products.
- This product is made from natural ingredients.
- All of Legion’s products are analyzed for purity and potency in an ISO 17025-accredited lab.
- There are 15 different flavors available.
- Consists of high-quality protein that contains all of the nine essential amino acids.
What I Don’t Like
- There are a few ingredients that aren’t ideal. This includes non-organic natural flavors, such as stevia and Ovasweet. There is a bit of an aftertaste to the product, which you may notice if you’re not a fan of stevia or other similar alternative sweeteners.
- There is an allergen warning for most of the major allergens, including nuts, milk, eggs, shellfish and soy.
- This is an expensive product, priced at $2.00 per serving. There are other similar products on the market that provide the same nutritional benefits but at a fraction of the cost.
What Could Be Improved?
- It seems like some of the flavors are frequently out of stock. It would be better if Legion could make sure that they were well stocked at all times.
- The discount for saving some money if you subscribe to regular deliveries is pretty low. You get 10% off your orders, which is substantially lower than a lot of other supplement companies.
How Does It Mix?
Some reviews express that this product can clump a bit when you try to mix it into whatever liquid you have chosen. It will likely work best if you’re trying to mix your Legion Whey Protein Powder into a smoothie or something that’s going to be moved through a blender.
The Taste and Flavors
Most people that use Legion Whey Protein love the taste. There are 15 different flavors of Legion Whey+ Protein Powder available. This includes:
- Pumpkin Pie
- Dutch Chocolate
- French Vanilla
- Birthday Cake
- Chocolate Peanut Butter
- Cocoa Cereal
- Cookies and Cream
- Fruity Cereal
- Honey Cereal
- Mocha Cappuccino
- Salted Caramel
- Strawberry Banana
- Unflavored
- Cinnamon Cereal
- Mint Chocolate
Because this whey protein contains two different sweetener substitutes (stevia-based), your opinion of the taste of this product may be in question. Some people really hate the taste of stevia, which might impact how much you like this protein powder.
My review on Legion Whey Protein Powder taste:
I have the Cocoa Cereal and the Cookies & Cream flavors. I'm pretty picky about my protein powders, as I only really use a few (1st Phorm protein, Clean Simple Eats, and a few others), and now I'm going to be adding Legion into my protein powder club! Here's why:
In my personal experience using Legion whey protein, I can say that it tastes amazing. It's very comparable to other elite brands as mentioned above. It's smooth and mixes very well. It's the kind of protein powder that you can enjoy making a quick shake or baking / making a macro-friendly snack (like a smoothie or ninja creami).
The Formula
Compared to other protein powder supplements designed similarly to Legion’s Whey Protein, this formulation is a little different than some of the other competition we’ve come across. The quality of their whey is definitely a selling point. Let’s look at a breakdown of the formula of Legion Whey Protein Powder.
Whey Isolate Protein from Ireland
Legion’s Whey Protein contains 22 to 24 grams of protein in each scoop (the amount can vary a little bit based on the flavor you choose). This is an impressive amount compared to other brands’ varieties. The whey comes from Truly Grass Fed milk, sourced from hormone- and antibiotic-free cows that live in Ireland. They spend their days outside, roaming and grazing. This makes a big difference in the quality of milk that is produced. This is a selling point that you won’t find with many protein brands. The price of Legion Whey Protein is a bit higher because of this factor, but quality is definitely worth the investment.
5.6g of BCAA per Serving
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, but Legion Whey Protein Powder contains branched-chain amino acids, or BCAAs (leucine, isoleucine and valine). These are amino acids that we have to source from our diet because they are not adequately produced by our body. BCAAs are an important part of protein because they help with muscle recovery and performance. There are 5.6 grams of BCAAS in Legion Whey Protein Powder, which is under the recommended amount per day for an average-sized adult. However, this is still a decent dose compared to other brands.
Natural Sweeteners Stevia and Erythritol
In an effort to avoid any artificial ingredients in their products, Legion uses stevia and erythritol as alternative sweeteners. There is no added refined sugar in this protein supplement.
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Third Party Testing
You can view updated third-party lab testing results on the Legion website. Legion analyzes every single batch of their Whey+ supplement in a specialized ISO 17025-accredited lab. This is to verify that the final product is safe, free of banned substances and doesn’t contain any kind of chemical or toxin.
How Does Legion Whey Protein Compare to Its Competition?
If you’re like us, you compare a few different products before you decide what you’re going to purchase. This is an important part of educated shopping. Let’s compare Legion Whey Protein to some of the competition.
Protein | Legion | Level-1 | Optimum Whey | Transparent Labs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Calories per serving: | 110 | 150 | 120 | 120 |
Protein per serving: | 23g | 25g | 24g | 28g |
Carbs per serving: | 4g | 5g | 3g | 1g |
Fats per serving: | 1g | 2.5g | 1g | 0g |
Mixing rating: | 4.7/5 | 4.8/5 | 4.2/5 | 4.7/5 |
Taste rating: | 4.6/5 | 4.7/5 | 4.3/5 | 4.6/5 |
Flavors: | 11 | 15 | 18 | 9 |
Click on the brand below to learn even more!
Level-1 Protein by 1st Phorm contains 5 grams of BCAAs, making it similar to Legion’s product in that regard. The protein content is also similar, at 24 grams of protein per serving. We find 1st Phorm’s product to be a bit less clean in regard to the other ingredients that have been added. For example, Level-1 contains corn syrup solids, artificial colors, cellulose gum, etc. The protein in Level-1 comes from a protein matrix consisting of whey protein concentrate, milk protein concentrates and whey protein isolate.
This Gold Standard Whey Protein from Optimum Nutrition is designed to provide post-workout support and recovery for your muscles. It also contains 24 grams of protein per serving, along with 5.5 grams of BCAAs. Optimum Nutrition claims that this is the world’s best-selling protein powder. It has an easy-mix formula, which gives it an advantage over Legion’s Whey. Optimum Nutrition also uses sophisticated filtering technologies to isolate carbohydrates, fat and lactose. Over 2,000 positive reviews are listed on just the Optimum Nutrition website.
Transparent Labs Whey Protein is sourced from 100% grass-fed cattle, but they are located in the U.S. This product has a very high protein-by-weight ratio of 82%. There are an impressive 28 grams of protein in each serving. This is also a really clean supplement, similar to the formulation of Legion’s product. Stevia is used as the sweetener, and natural flavors are used without any artificial ingredients, colors, fillers, etc.
Customer Reviews
Legion Whey Protein Powder has a 4.7-star rating out of five stars on the Legion website. There are 9.500 verified reviews included, with 86% of them being five stars. A lot of people comment on their favorite flavors and how much they enjoy the taste of the product, but it would be nice to see more reviews that talk about the results that have been achieved with the use of Legion Whey Protein.
There are not-so-favorable reviews discussed as well. It seems Whey+ has gone through a bit of formulation change in recent years. Long-time users of this product didn’t appreciate the changes, which seemed to be largely flavor-based. Other people don’t like the taste and don’t think the powder mixes well.
Who Should Try Legion Whey Protein?
People who live a very active lifestyle, are trying to maintain a specific weight, are following a specific weight loss plan, or are trying to fill in nutritional gaps in their diet can benefit from Legion Whey Protein. The body requires approximately 45 to 55 grams of protein per day for someone who is relatively sedentary. That number is much higher for someone that is active or actively trying to build muscle. If you fit that criteria, Legion Whey Protein is something you may want to consider trying. Its high-quality whey definitely sets it apart from other brands with similar protein products. We would just like to see more information provided regarding the benefits of regularly consuming whey protein from Legion aside from the minimal information regarding the use of BCAAs for muscle growth and maintenance, faster recovery time and better performance.
Who Shouldn’t?
If you’re allergic to milk products or sensitive to products containing lactose, you may want to consider a plant-based protein option. There are a lot of varieties that offer the same benefits but without the need to consume lactose or milk. Otherwise, protein powder is generally considered to be a very safe supplement.
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